Confessions of a January Hater (And What To Do About It....)

I have a confession to make: I hate January. Not just this January. Every January. Why? All the festivities between Halloween and the (forced?) frivolity of New Year's Eve are over. It's been two months since there was any major league baseball and still a month before Spring Training begins. That's why.

Plus this January we begin full year three of uncertainty about business in this country and the world since the Crash of September 2008.

But....having said that........I am reminded of a conversation that I had a few years ago with a client who is a full-time psychologist and a part-time inventor. He called to ask a trademark question and of course - he being a nice guy and all that - he began the conversation with "How are you?". Somewhere - out of nowhere - I responded: "I choose to be doing well today".

His (slightly perturbed) response: "Well, if more people said that I'd be out of business".

My point, of course, is that so much of where we end up is a result of the choices we make - especially the choice about our attitude. I don't necessarily wake up every day with a smile on my face. But before I get rolling I make a choice that this is going to be the best day I can possibly make it. And, if necessary, I remind myself of that during the day. It helps, of course, to make the right choice when I look at the pictures of my family in my office and look around to see the people I work with everyday.

Surely there is lots we could be worried or glum about; and if we choose to focus on those things it's going to be a tough day/week/month/year/life. So my choice is to remember that I have a choice.

Thank you to all of you who read this who are part of our community of friends, clients, and professionals. Thank you for reading and thank you for your support. We all rise in the boat together and we look forward to a year of progress, growth, increased knowledge - and the beginning of Spring Training when the grass is green and the smell of fresh-cut grass reminds us of where we've been and that anything is possible!